Formula 1 drivers are pragmatic souls, aren’t they? Put any driver in a title fight – go on, pick one – and ask them about the championship, and they’ll default to the usual platitudes of “taking it race by race” and “not thinking about the title”. As much as the current crop of F1 stars are castigated for being too PR-friendly and unwilling to give much away, there’s a psychological element to that mantra. Say the same thing enough, and you’ll eventually believe it.
Max Verstappen has sung a similar song of late. To those who have followed this season in its intoxicating detail, it comes at little surprise; five races ago, Verstappen’s title aspirations were almost non-existent. His arrears to Oscar Piastri after the Dutch Grand Prix had just ticked over into triple figures, standing at 104 points after F1’s return from its self-imposed summer exile. Not even two months have passed, and the deficit is now comparatively bite-sized at 40 points. The Dutchman has won three of the last four races, while Piastri’s form has nosedived of late – albeit not entirely of his own making.
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– The Autosport.com Team